A Cold Night and then into the Outback

Well the night was certainly cold last night at Bendemeer. I knew it was cold when I crawled out of my swag this morning and found it covered in ice. Fortunately I was toasty warm inside thanks to the lovely, beautiful and totally gorgeous Baabaara (my new sheepskin). She did her job well and I had no idea it was so cold outside. Just to prove it, here's a photo of the ice on my swag.

When we checked the temperature at 8.30 in the morning (well after the sun was up) it was still only -3 degrees. We don't know how cold it really was before the sun got up - but are guessing it was somewhere around -5 or -6. Poor old paddy had to rug up in his hat and sock sleeping bag.

Anyway, after a warming breakfast we got on the road and soon the temperature improved. We had a pretty big drive on through Tamworth, Gunnedah, Coonabarrabran and Gilgandra. When we turned off at Gilgandra we really felt the trip had begun (as we have travelled the road up to this point many times on the way to Echuca). The land began to change as we headed to Warren - there are many cotton farms and they have built huge dams to service them. We didn't see any cotton as it is the wrong season, but saw heaps of shipping crates waiting at the cotton gins to take the next crop off overseas.

We finally arrived at Nyngan at about 4 o'clock. Nyngan is known as the gateway to the outback - and the country changes quite incredibly once you cross the Bogan River (cool name) in the middle of town. Now we are into red dirt and scrub country!

We picked up some supplies and settled in to the Riverside Caravan Park for a refreshing beer and a little bit of time to relax. Hopefully tonight won't be as cold as last night! We have a big day tomorrow as we push through to Broken Hill.

I am compiling a list of all of the bird and animal life I see (with the help of my "What Bird is That" book. I will be adding a list to this blog shortly, so check it out to get an idea of exactly what I am seeing on my epic adventure.